MISSION FOODS SPONSORING ESCALANTE AND TEAM HAMMER
BREA, CA, March 6, 2026 — Mission Foods is supporting Richie Escalante and Team Hammer in their quest to win the 84th Daytona 200 as title sponsor for the #54 Mission M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750.
Additionally, Escalante’s GSX-R1000R will be dressed in full Mission livery for multiple rounds of the upcoming 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship season.
Mission Foods is the world’s leading manufacturer of authentic Mexican corn and flour tortillas, wraps, chips, flatbreads, and related snacks. It has also been an enthusiastic and active supporter across multiple series and forms of motorsports. Its unwavering and innovative efforts have helped to raise the profile of MotoAmerica and others while also creating greater awareness for its wide range of products.
Escalante has a pre-existing relationship with Mission Foods as a personal sponsor. He became the first Mexican rider to win an AMA National Road Racing title when he dominated the 2020 MotoAmerica Supersport series. He’s since made a successful transition to the premier Superbike class, where he has racked up multiple podium performances.
Escalante returns to Supersport to compete in the Daytona 200 on an annual basis, and he has consistently proven a threat to claim top honors. He finished as the prestigious race’s runner-up in 2025 and will attempt to take one more step up the podium this weekend.
Escalante said, “It is special, to be honest, to have Mission Foods sponsor me. As it is a Mexican company, and I am a Mexican rider, I am excited. I am really honored that they support us, and I think the Suzuki looks great in their colors. We’re racing the Daytona 200 together this weekend – a very important race to all of us and we are super motivated to do well.”
The 84th Daytona 200 will take place on March 7 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2026 season marks Team Hammer’s 46th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 135 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 385 times and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
